Mandibular Sexual Dimorphism in a Formative Collection: SJTil20 (Tilcara, Jujuy)
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Abstract
The mandible is one of the many anatomical elements of the human skeleton that have proven useful for estimating the sex of individuals. In the mandible, the recognition of sexual dimorphism is generally carried out by observing certain morphostructural regions, such as the gonion, the chin, the mandibular ramus, among others.
In principle, the discriminatory effectiveness of this set of variables may be enriched by the introduction of new technical-methodological proposals, particularly those that increase and/or complement the available diagnostic capacities. One such proposal, developed by Loth and Henneberg (1996), is based on the analysis of the anatomical conformation of the inflection of the posterior border of the mandibular ramus. However, the diagnostic efficiency of this anatomical trait has been questioned by several authors.
Since the expression of sexual dimorphism may vary among populations, it is necessary to verify the effectiveness of the new procedure, particularly in the case of osteological materials of archaeological origin. The objective of this paper is to test the diagnostic efficiency of this technique using a set of mandibles belonging to skeletons recovered at the Formative site SJ Til. 20, Tilcara, Jujuy.
These are funerary findings from the Early Period, exceptional for the area and for the way in which the skeletal materials were recovered and treated. From an anatomical point of view, these materials show a strong general dimorphic expression. The paper describes, compares, analyzes, discusses, and interprets the convergences and divergences, agreements and inconsistencies found when applying this new technique.
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The author/s grant exclusive license without temporary limit for the manuscript to be published in Cuadernos-FHyCS edited by Humanides the Faculty of Social Science, National University of Jujuy.
References
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